You Must Take Care of Her

Writers: Avery
Date Posted: 29th May 2017

Characters: Kapera, A'vel
Description: When Tsogath rises, Kapera keeps her promise.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 23 of Turn 8

Kapera

It was mid-day, A'vel had a private lesson with the weyrlingstaff to get
to, and Tsogath was asleep up on their ledge instead of coming down to
give A'vel a ride so he could change his shirt. She'd been asleep since
the morning, which had been nice while he was trying to concentrate on
his private tutoring. But now that he needed her, it was infuriating.

The young green stretched on her ledge long and slow, arching her back
and angling her wings to catch the light. She glittered under the midday
sun. Then she bugled a high, piercing note. It seemed to echo around the
Weyrbowl and throb in the air. It was a noise he'd never heard her make
before.

**No. No, no, no,** A'vel thought, realizing what was happening, but
refusing to accept it. She couldn't be rising now?! She hadn't been
glowing, she hadn't been proddy. It was too soon for it to be _happening_.

Now that Tsogath was awake, her presence in his mind was far greater
than it had been since Impression. This wasn't the cheery,
happy-go-lucky Tsogath that he was used to. This was a mix of challenge
and heat that he didn't recognize. It was foreign, and terrifying, and
overpowering.

The sound of a green dragon screeching her intent to mate was common
enough in a Weyr that it was basically background noise. So Kapera
didn't think much of it when she heard it. But she'd made a promise to
A'vel that she and Riyanth would be there for him when it happened. So
when the gold dragon saw which green was shrilling, she reached out to
her rider.

}:Tsogath is Rising now. She is challenging the males,:{ Riyanth
informed Kapera.

**Can you see A'vel?** the goldrider asked her lifemate.

Riyanth scanned around. Dragon eyes were excellent for checking wing
conditions and handling Threadfall, but distinguishing individual humans
was not their strong point. Fortunately she had Kapera's knowledge of
the boy, her awareness of Tsogath's state, and knowledge of what the
Weyrbowl should look like. So when she saw a figure curled by the
entrance to the classrooms in the Lower Caverns, she sent the picture to
her rider. }:Here.:{

**Shards,** Kapera thought as she saw it. She jumped out of her chair
and ran. A'vel wasn't heading towards the feeding pens and flight cots.
He looked like he wasn't handling this well at all. She had to get there
and help him.

He was still motionless when she got there. Kapera knelt down in front
of him so he had to look at her. "A'vel. Do you hear me?"

He couldn't muster up the words to say anything, but he nodded once, twice.

"Tsogath is rising. You have to go to her," Kapera told the green weyrling.
She was striving to keep her tone gentle, but she was worried. They'd
talked about getting him some practice so he didn't panic when her
flight happened, and she'd gotten the impression that that was what he
was going to do.

Yet here he was curled up and crying instead of running to the pens to
watching her. She hoped that he _had_ gotten practice and that this was
just a momentary paralysis. If he hadn't taken her advice... if he was
still virgin, and he was panicking instead of reaching for Tsogath...

"I can't - can't do this," A'vel whispered, tears beginning to roll down
his cheeks.

}:I dare you!:{ Tsogath shrilled to all the male dragons in a loud
mindvoice that echoed the noise of her bugle. And then she threw herself
off the ledge and into the sky. She hovered in the air so the males
could see her, then dove rapidly towards the feeding pens, striking a
small wherry and tearing into it.

A'vel was acutely aware of Tsogath as she bit into the wherry. As the
hot blood and meat touched her tongue, it felt like it was coating on
his own. There was something he was supposed to do, but he was too
disgusted by the blood and the lust to think.

"Tell her to drink the blood, not eat. She'll fight you but she'll give
in when she tastes it." Kapera put a steadying hand onto the young man's
shoulder, to emphasize her orders. "Riyanth and I know you can do this."

A'vel shuddered as the goldrider's hand touched him - her fingers felt
cold like water against his flushed skin. But he obeyed the order,
closed his mind, and thought, **Blood it! Blood.**

Tsogath thrashed her head and ground her teeth, tearing through the meat
in her mouth and swallowing a bite. But it felt heavy in her stomach.
Not as good as she'd thought. Yes, her rider was right, she needed the
hot blood. She eagerly began sucking it, heedless of the mess she was
making.

}:She is blooding now,:{ Riyanth told Kapera, seeing the green caught up
in the first part of the mating instinct. }:She will need her rider,:{
the gold added with urgency.

**I know,** Kapera thought back. If the green took off in her heat and
her rider was still fighting it...

She squeezed A'vel's shoulder hard. "Come on. I'll get you to where you
need to be," she said. Her dragon's commanding presence in her mind lent
her tone more authority than usual.

A'vel stood up, automatically responding to the command of the
goldrider. "What do I do?" he asked, his tone forlorn and resigned.

Kapera started walking him along the path to the cots, glad he was small
and easy to maneuver. "Stay with her as she flies, and when she's caught
keep linked with her. Don't let her be alone, support her. Bring her home."

Her tone was reassuring, but the goldrider was worried. She decided that
she was going to stay at the flight cots and keep an eye on this flight,
just in case anything went wrong. All dragons responded to golds'
commands, and Riyanth was going to keep a mental reach for Tsogath - if
the green panicked, the gold would try to bring her home. And if
something happened among the riders at the cots, Kapera would step in.
The dragonriders wouldn't harm her, even in flight lust.

Just as she steered A'vel towards the openings of the flight cots,
Tsogath screeched another piercing challenge and discarded the carcass.
She leapt for the sky. }:Catch me, if you can!:{

Last updated on the June 8th 2017

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You Must Take Care of Her